Spurs start a youth movement

For the first time in his life this summer, Tony Parker went on a diet.

Fatty French favorites like crème brulee and foie gras were out for the Spurs point guard. Asparagus and other healthy green vegetables were in.

Parker’s explanation for giving his plate a Jenny Craig makeover was simple.

“I’m not 20 anymore,” Parker said.

When training camp began in September, it wasn’t just Parker’s waistline that made him feel old.

Nine years after arriving as a fresh-off-the-boat teenager, the 28-year-old Parker is practically a grizzled veteran on this Spurs team.

Once described by coach Gregg Popovich as “older than dirt,” the Spurs now feature more 20-somethings than a Black Eyed Peas concert.

Seeking to maintain their relevance after last season’s 50-win season was good for seventh in the Western Conference, the Spurs’ biggest offseason addition this summer was 25-year-old center Tiago Splitter, the team’s first-round pick from 2007.

The oldest was guard Gary Neal, an Italian League veteran who is set to become a 26-year-old NBA rookie. The youngest was James Anderson, the 21-year-old guard from Oklahoma State selected 20th overall in June.

“I don’t know that that is so purposeful,” Popovich said. “You go by who’s left. If there would have been a Robert Horry out there, I would have taken him.”

Even so, there is little denying the youth movement that has occurred since the Spurs’ last championship in 2007, as the organization seeks to continue competing for titles while also preparing for a post-Tim Duncan world.

Looking to pry open the championship window for the Duncan-Parker-Manu Ginobili core one more season, 10 of the 13 players projected to make the Spurs’ opening day roster are 30 years old or younger. That’s quite a change for a team that spent previous offseasons bringing in graybeards like Horry, Michael Finley, Theo Ratliff and Antonio McDyess.

Surveying the locker room before one preseason game this month, McDyess — the Spurs’ eldest statesman at 36 — said he felt like “a senior citizen.”

Duncan, the Spurs’ 34-year-old captain, was aghast when Splitter told him he used to watch him as a kid.

“I didn’t enjoy that at all,” Duncan said.

A 6-foot-11 Brazilian, Splitter has been tantalizing Spurs fans from Spain since the day he was drafted.

Widely regarded as the best big man in Europe last season after leading Caja Laboral to the Spanish League crown, Splitter arrives in San Antonio as a rookie uncommonly prepared for professional life.

“I watched a lot of NBA games in Europe, so I know about it already,” Splitter said. “Of course, until you get on the court and feel it by yourself, you really don’t know.”

Despite all the talk about the future, the Spurs still have a foot in the present. Though the two-time defending champion Lakers remain the team to beat in the West, and with all the NBA offseason talk focused on the LeBron James-Chris Bosh-Dwyane Wade tag-team in Miami, the Spurs believe they can remain competitive this season.

“I think we’re a better team than we were last year,” Duncan said. “I think we’re right in the mix.”

This much is for certain: If the Spurs are to get where they want to go this season, they will need good seasons from a handful of players considerably younger than dirt.